don't go over a fiscal cliff." or, you know, "pay our bills," or, "do something about the budget." now, i think even though the people tend to not be open to a lot of different views, they want the people they elect to make government work. >> so, we have created a political system that rewards intransigence. >> we've created a system that says, "we reward incivility. we reward refusal to compromise. we punish people who compromise and are civil and get along well with the people on the other side of the aisle." so, why are we surprised that that's what we get in everything in life? you get what you reward. and you don't get what you punish. and that's what we've done to our political system. >> what's in store for the fate of a democracy that cannot be flexible enough to compromise between its strongly-held prejudices? >> you know, if you have hardening of the arteries, it'll kill you as a person and it'll kill you as a country. what you have to do is to be able to maintain the health of the democracy by saying, "it depends on people of different perspectives to come together, hav